Community D

Teaching German

DocFilm

The Mountain of the Messiah - The Mount of Olives and Its Myths

The Mount of Olives plays an important role in the beliefs and traditions of all three Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The film reports on the mystical secrets of the sacred site.

An orthodox Jew visits the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

In Judaism the Messiah will come from the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem. In Christianity Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives and Muslims believe the Mount of Olives is the site where the Kaaba, the black stone in Mecca, will return to in order to unite with the rock in the Dome of the Rock, from where the world was created.

Hairdresser Khalil Abu Al Hawa has lived on the Mount of Olives for more than fity years.

The Mount of Olives, around 800m high, is located in East Jerusalem, to the north east of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s old town. The mountain’s name comes from the fact that it was originally covered in olive trees. Today some 30,000 people live on the Mount of Olives. Although they include orthodox Jews and Christians, everyday life, particularly on the mountain’s eastern slopes, has an Arab influence.

A view of the Mount of Olives.

The film shows what life now looks like on and around the Mount of Olives and how faith, tradition and reality are connected. Things may seem peaceful here but tensions are still very much present under the surface. Israeli Jews see all of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish people while Palestinians lay claim to East Jerusalem.